= EU Ecodesign: 38 organisations demand the right to access and to reuse hardware =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220427-01.nl.html ]

The FSFE publishes an open letter, co-signed by 38 organisations and companies, to ask EU legislators for the right to install any software on any device, including full access to hardware. These rights support reusability and longevity of our devices. The alliance is composed of entities from environmental, economic, and technological sectors.

The European Union is about to redefine the ecodesign criteria for products in several legislative proposals, including the Sustainable Product Initiative, the Circular Electronics Initiative, and the Right to Repair. These proposals aim at extending the usage time of hardware and facilitating circular use of electronic devices. The current regulations date from 2009 and do not include any criteria regarding the design and licensing of software as an important factor for the sustainability of electronic products. Software directly influences how long consumers can keep using their devices.

Nowadays, users who want to keep using their devices for a longer time, or to reuse their hardware in a creative way, face a wide range of software barriers: from obsolescence to an unexpected end-of-support, from spare part serialization to locked boot loaders. In practice, these artificial restrictions on using and reusing hardware are ultimately imposed by software. Neither consumers nor professional third-party services can overcome them, often simply due to the obscurity of proprietary software licensing models. Free Software licensing solves many of these issues and in this way becomes crucial for an eco-friendly design and the sustainability of hardware; this is the core message of an Open Letter published today by the Free Software Foundation Europe and co-signed by 37 European organisations and companies [1].

Among the initial signees are large repair unions as the European Right to Repair Campaign, the Round Table Repair, and the Netzwerk Reparatur Initiative - together representing hundreds of initiatives and associations of the European repair sector. Together with iFixit, Fairphone, Germanwatch, Open Source Business Alliance, Wikimedie DE, Digitalcourage, European Digital Rights Initiative, and more, they build an alliance of 38 organisations, that ask European legislators for a more sustainable digital economy by giving users the right to freely choose operating systems, software, and services. The letter divides this right into four core demands:

=== Universal right to install any software on any device ===

Users must have the universal right to install and develop any operating system and software they want on any device. Legal, technical, or other obstacles to reusing these devices for any purpose must not be allowed.

=== Free choice of online service providers ===

Using certain hardware must not dictate which online services to use. The obligation to connect online services via Open Standards must empower users to choose services from diverse manufacturers, including self-hosted services or those hosted by any third party.

=== Interoperable and compatible devices ===

Using certain hardware must not dictate which other hardware to buy in order to keep those devices connected. Manufacturers must provide any data necessary to run a device in Open Standards format, allowing interoperability of devices. Artificial incompatibility of devices must not be allowed.

=== Publication of source code of drivers, tools, and interfaces ===

Manufacturers must enable users to repurpose, replace, or repair any part of a device. This is only possible if users can access and reuse the source code of all necessary drivers, tools, and interfaces to run the device and its components. This means that the source code of tools, drivers, and interfaces of every piece of hardware within a device must be published under a Free Software licence.

The FSFE and 38 European organisations and companies stress the above demands as necessary for sustainable use and reuse of our hardware. Empowering users with the right to freely choose operating systems, software, and services will allow them to use and reuse their devices for a longer period.

The initial signatories of the open letter include civil society organisations from the environmental, economic, and technological sectors. Several companies support these demands as well, showing that a more sustainable digital society and economic growth are not contradictions. The list of these initial signees in alphabetical order is:

1. /e/ Foundation

2. Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL)

3. European Open Source Business Association (APELL)

4. Back Market

5. Barcelona Free Software Group

6. Citizen D

7. Deutscher Naturschutzring

8. Digitalcourage

9. Digitale Gesellschaft CH

10. Document Foundation

11. Environmental Coalition on Standards

12. Epicenter.works

13. European Digital Rights (EDRi)

14. Elektronisk Forpost Norge

15. European Right to Repair Campaign (repair.eu)

16. Fairphone

17. Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung e.V. (FifF)

18. Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)

19. Germanwatch

20. Greek Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS)

21. Heinlein Support

22. iFixit

23. KDE

24. Mailbox.org

25. Mouvement Ecologique

26. Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU)

27. Netzwerk Reparatur Initiativen

28. Nextcloud

29. Nitrokey

30. Norwegian Unix User Group

31. Oekozenter Pafendall

32. Open Kowledge Foundation DE

33. OPNTEC

34. Open Source Business Alliance (OSBA)

35. Runder Tisch Reparatur

36. Shift

37. Vrijschrift

38. Wikimedia DE

1: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.nl.html

== Over de Free Software Foundation Europe ==

Free Software Foundation Europe is een goed doel dat gebruikers in staat stelt om technologie te controleren. Software is sterk verweven met alle aspecten van onze levens. Het is belangrijk dat deze technologie ons tot iets in staat stelt in plaats van ons te beperken. Vrije Software geeft iedereen het recht om software te gebruiken, te begrijpen, aan te passen en te delen. Deze rechten helpen het ondersteunen van andere fundamentele vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van meningsuiting, pers en privacy.

De FSFE helpt individuen en organisaties begrijpen hoe Vrije Software bijdraagt aan vrijheid, transparantie en zelfbeschikking. We verbeteren gebruikersrechten door het opheffen van barrières voor de adoptie van Vrije Software, moedigen mensen aan om Vrije Software te gebruiken en te ontwikkelen en voorzien in middelen om iedereen in staat te stellen Vrije Software in Europa verder te promoten.

https://fsfe.org